GR2 Top 15 Tracks – March 26, 2007

Here's the latest iteration of the GR2 Top 15 Songs for the last 7 days.  Only 3 songs from last week are in the Top 15 again this week so either you guys got sick of the other stuff or I have two entirely different sets of listeners taking turns rating the music.  Must be some sort of conspiracy…

  1. Trial by Fire – To Whom It May Redeem
  2. I DECLINE – Devil's Playground –
  3. New Mexican Disaster Squad – Tightrope
  4. Dillinger Four – "I Was Born on a Pirate Ship! "
  5. The Hollow Points – My Misfortune
  6. Snapout (aka Fastpace) – Hope
  7. One Man Army and the Undead Quartet – It's Empty –
  8. Love Equals Death – Pray For Me
  9. Left Alone – Every Night
  10. Dropkick Murphys – The Warrior's Code
  11. Subhumans – Religious Wars
  12. The Lawrence Arms – Beyond The Embarassing Style
  13. The Bouncing Souls – The Gold Song
  14. Strung Out – Bring Out Your Dead
  15. No Use For A Name – For Fiona

Open Letter to Artists, Labels and Songwriters

It has always been Live365’s mission to support artists and pay our fair share of royalties. Since its inception in 1999, Live365 has always paid both composer royalties (to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) and performance royalties (to SoundExchange). Over the last few years, we've paid millions to SoundExchange alone on behalf of our broadcasters and listeners.

It’s all about supporting artists who write and perform the songs we enjoy. This is a core mission behind Live365. Some of this support comes from promotion, airtime, so artists’ works can be heard. Some comes from cash in the form of ROYALTIES. Last year, Live365 paid SoundExchange, the collector of sound recording royalties, more than $1 million (for the performing musicians and singers) on behalf of our broadcasters and have continually paid royalties since day one of our service.

To take the administrative burden of tracking Live365 stations off SoundExchange and our broadcasters' back, we also created and provided for our stations an entire data management system that tracks which songs were heard, by how many persons, providing SoundExchange with a single, compiled report insuring thousands of Internet stations are law abiding webcasters that do report and pay royalties. And that’s just one type of royalties. Live365 and its broadcasters do the same reporting and paying for the song writers and composers through contracts with their royalty organizations, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.

What we do not understand is why Internet radio is saddled with the highest rates. Satellite services, such as Sirius or XM, and cable TV music providers, such as Music Choice, pay nearly 50% less for the same royalties. AM & FM stations pay NO sound recording royalties at all. If all parties were putting in their share, if there was parity for all broadcasters, there would be no need to double, nearly triple the royalty rates for Internet radio as the government established Copyright Royalty Board has done.

Many small, non-profit and public service stations with little or no revenue will be stopped from broadcasting on the Internet under these new rates which will eliminate many of the music you can’t find on AM, FM, satellite, or cable radio. If these rates stay in place, we’d expect 80% of Live365 stations, specifically those in niche genres with unique content unavailable elsewhere, will have no choice but to shut down. Our 260 genres would probably be reduced to 10 and become homogenized as AM/FM radio. As an example, this year’s “pay for performance per listener” rate of $0.0011 may seem tiny, but one Internet radio station that broadcasts 15 songs an hour to even 500 listeners would pay SoundExchange $72,270 a year for sound recording royalties alone, not to mention their other costs for composition royalties, hosting, bandwidth, music library and their programming. Compare that to the current under $1,000 average price of broadcasting on Live365.

Internet radio, such as Live365, is the only source most people have for jazz, classical, folk and many other types of music in niche genres. Many of these genres are key elements of American culture, and Internet radio is one of our best resources for preserving them. Internet radio reaches the entire world and helps spread the exchange of cultures and goodwill to people everywhere.

 

Thank You,

Atomm Nihilo

Live365 Broadcaster

GamersRadio.com 

GR1 – Heavy Metal

GR2 – Punk Rock 

Break the Silence taking break, members looking for singer for new project

The members of Break The Silence have announced plans to take a short break from the band. They stress that this is not a permanent thing but simply that things are “on hold.” In the meantime, the members have opted to form a new project which is currently unnamed, which they explain:

It is just a way for the members of the band to pursue different options in their lives without killing off something we all love so much.

To that end, they are searching for a new singer. The new band has fifteen songs written and is asking interested vocalists to contact them via this email or via their myspace page.
Source Continue reading Break the Silence taking break, members looking for singer for new project

Outernational recording this Spring

Outernational has announced one last gig before they enter the studio with Tom Morello to begin work on their next full length. The band received a ton of attention last year when Morello described them as “the next Rage Against the Machine” and will be performing on March 25th at the Knitting Factory in New York City with support from Pistolera.

After that, they plan to head out west to record their new album, and touring is expected to resumje after that.

Punknews.org spoke with the band last year.
Source Continue reading Outernational recording this Spring

Scarlet vocalist resurfaces in Conditions

Brandon Roundtree, who’s departure precipitated the end of Ferret act Scarlet has resurfaced in a new band. Roundtree, along with members of Race The Sun, FIAD, Race The Sun, Motion Picture Demise, and Tragedy Letters have formed Conditions.

The band has posted two new recordings from the band, and you can find those on their myspace page.
Source Continue reading Scarlet vocalist resurfaces in Conditions